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Colorado State looks for good showing at Bowl

AD Jack Graham know traveling fans are important

By Mike Brohard Sports Editor

Posted:
12/09/2013 08:20:33 PM MST

Colorado State athletic director Jack Graham, with university president Tony Frank to his right, knows a strong showing by fans at the New Mexico Bowl will help the university in the future.
(Sam Noblett)

FORT COLLINS -- The task of getting to a bowl game is what's most important for a football team.

For Colorado State's, it was their part of the Bold New Era, and the Rams accomplished that for the first time in five seasons, going 7-6 on the year. But it almost wasn't enough. The Mountain West had more bowl-eligible teams than it knew what to do with, and eventually, that left one team out.

So this time around, the Rams also had to impress. Jeff Siembieda, the executive director for the Gildan New Mexico Bowl fired off a host of reasons why the Rams caught the eye of his committee.

The Rams are a program on the rise with an exciting offense, the only combination of a 3,200-yard passer and a 1,500-yard rusher in the nation. They also improved as the season progressed and the fan base, he said, seems to be excited.

They were all factors, Siembieda said, and the last one was key.

An excited fan base that the bowl hosts hope will travel to watch CSU play Washington State on Dec. 21 to kickoff the bowl season, and Colorado State athletic director Jack Graham was quick to point out in talks with prospective bowl games that the Rams traveled well to New Mexico in 2008, as well as the Poinsettia Bowl in 2005.

The Rams drew about 6,500 fans south down I-25 to watch the 2008 game, an impressive number the bowl committee remembered.

"It's a piece of the puzzle. I can't put a weight to the factors, or a percentage," Siembieda said. "I can't say how much of a factor it is, but it's a factor. It's in the conversation, and it's part of the conversation when you start putting together matchups. I don't know that it's the deciding factor, I don't know it outweighs anything else, but it's part of the puzzle, part of the equation."

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Truth be told, Colorado State knows it helps to have a fan base that travels, and it was part of what gave them some confidence before the final decision was made on Sunday. It pales in comparison to many other teams, but shows better than a few they were competing against.

Siembieda said the contract with the Mountain West sets the conference's team allotment at 10,000 tickets; the Pac-12 is contractually obligated to 5,000.

As of Monday, 24 hours after the announcement, Colorado State has sold close to 1,000 tickets, according to the school's ticket office. Ticket prices were set at $40, $10 for students. The university gets credit for tickets sold through its channels, not through travel packages or directly from the bowl game.

Most teams don't make money from bowl games, but Graham said the school will try its best to at least break even. The per-team payout for the game is $375,000.

Selling tickets will help on that end. He said it also helps the team on the field. But in fitting in with Colorado State's drive toward a change in perception, he knows its key to show Colorado State fans travel better than ever, and the New Mexico Bowl is a perfect start. As he said, other bowl games will take notice.

"This matters in terms of future bowl implications," he said. "I think it helps to build the momentum we're trying to establish and the traditions around engaging with your university, taking pride in your university, being involved with your university. When the rest of Ram Nation who is not able to make the football game is able to see us show up in numbers, it shows them we really have a very vibrant, active community, and it helps the university across the board."

So once again, the football team is trying to do their part. The players hit Twitter to encourage fans to go to the game, and coach Jim McElwain is hoping to see a big green wave hit Albuquerque.

"We need to sell tickets, and we need to go paint the town green," McElwain said. "We need to go to Albuquerque and enjoy the experience and get behind these guys. Faithful Rams will be there, and we're looking for some more to jump on the bandwagon. We've got some great things happening here, and this is just the tip of it.

"What we need to do is we need to have a great showing as a university. And we need to have a great showing from the Ram Nation as far as getting down there and enjoying a Saturday ball game before Christmas and go into the holidays with a smile on our face."

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